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The dark days of SOPA and PIPA are behind the US, at least temporarily as copyright tycoons reground and restrategize, attempting to come up with measures that don’t cause the entire internet to shut down in protest.

But one country has already moved ahead with similar legislation. The government of the Philippines has passed the Cybercrime Prevention Act, which on the surface, as usual, sounds perfectly well-intentioned. But when you read the actual contents of what’s been deemed “cybercrime,” SOPA’s proposed censorship sounds downright lax by comparison.

Yes, there’s the usual hacking, cracking, identity theft and spamming, which most of us can agree should be illegal. But there’s also cybersex, pornography, file-sharing (SOPA’s main target) and the most controversial provision, online libel.

Now, as someone who has been the target of many a vicious attack from commenters or forum posters, I can understand frustration with the nature of online anonymous criticism. But to actually try to make such a thing illegal? You wade into dangerous waters that anything resembling freedom of speech will likely drown in. And that’s overlooking the free speech implications trampled by banning pornography and file-sharing as well, two provisions getting less attention due to the severity of the libel section.

Via CBS, a senator who opposed the bill explains its potential ramifications:

“If you click ‘like,’ you can be sued, and if you share, you can also be sued,” said Sen. Teofisto Guingona III, one of the lawmakers who voted against the passage of the law.

The provision, according to Guingona, is so broad and vague that it’s not even clear who should be liable for a given statement online. And if you’re found guilty, get ready to spend up to 12 years in prison.

Guingona poses the question, who exactly is libel for the libel? Is it the person who made the statements? Anyone who reblogged or retweeted them? The website on which the comments were made? Anyone who commented in assent or even clicked ‘like’? The way the law is worded, the Filipino police could actually charge you with simply criticizing them or the government in a way they deem “malicious,” a word very much open to interpretation.

One of the two Senators who inserted the libel provision, Vincente Sotto III, stands by it.

“Yes, I did it. I inserted the provision on libel. Because I believe in it and I don’t think there’s any additional harm.”

Again, much like SOPA, these are lawmakers who don’t understand the true implications of the law on the technology they’re attempting to regulate. Or maybe they do, in this case. Sotto recently came under fire online for plagiarizing speeches from an American blogger and Robert F. Kennedy which he used to rail against a controversial reproductive health bill.

On social media sites like Reddit, young Filipinos are lamenting the seemingly backwards nature of their government’s recent policies, decrying that they were able to pass a law like this one heavily censoring the internet, but not the aforementioned legislation to teach sex education and give out birth control in schools.

Opponents of SOPA and PIPA should stand up to web tyranny everywhere, and when a supposedly free country institutes censorship practices like that of China and Iran, something is very wrong with that picture. Despite huge protests against the law, the government, as of yet, shows no sign of backing down.

Once again we see a mix of ignorance to technology and the desire to exert further control over a population. Neither is pretty, and neither has any place in a good government.

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… I wonder how much budget has been put in place to implement the law?

This is a saga…

What is the point of going on the web now, if a user cant do a lot of things? Fair enough with illegal downloads and such.. but for example on pornography… i cant imagine someone being arrested for obtaining a playboy magazine in real life.. but in cyber space it’s possible! Thanks for the genuis idea of cybercrime law! To such extent… they should limit pornography but not prohibit the whole of it… i don’t think they even had a thought about the specifics… everything about this law seems so vague, which is dangerous…. coz you dont know when and what you could possibly violate!

I wonder how they could implement this law whilst pirated dvds and cds are sold in streets of the philippines…

50Million Pesos!!! Wow that is a lot… that amount could sustain medical and health needs, upgrade minor infrastructures… the point is… this isnt the priority of the country.. it is so ridiculous!

Imprisonment/conviction of those who will get caught is also impractical… couldn’t those who break this law be given 3 warnings atleast? Or do something with ISP’s block the websites.. suspend the user from internet subscription… why FINE straght away… why is imprisonment the first option? SHAMEFULLY SPEAKING, the prison cells in the Philippines are so over populated, dirty and could no longer accommodate more people.

this is a violation of one of the basic civil rights, which is freedom of speech, that a democratic country, in which the philippines is one, should have. everyone is entitled to their opinion and they should voice it out without the fear of ramifications.

I don’t know if it is some browser issue that I’m having, but the little picture next to the name seems to be blacked out for all posters who seem to be Filipino (sorry guys, if I spelled incorrectly).

It seems, somehow, oddly appropriate.

I appreciate the commenter who quoted the Filipino constitution Bill of Rights (which obviously mirrors the US Bill of Rights)- that helped me understand better that such a law is as atrocious to the law of the Philippines as it is to that of the United States.

Our two countries and peoples have a long and often-shared history, and Americans should stand with Filipino liberty-lovers on this issue!

Let me add one additional perspective here- The Philippines is a country that can’t afford to put its Internet economy at risk. When American technology companies (or tech departments at large enough non-tech companies) want to outsource coding or development to lower-wage nations that have tech talent, there are three main places they go- India, Ukraine, and the Philippines. It is an important piece of the Philippine economy- and lawmakers who neglect that fact are fooish indeed.